Honestly, Loki season 1 has been the only MCU series so far that has eluded Marvel’s latest hell-bent desire to disappoint. Perhaps that’s the reason it brazenly created a giant plothole and is all set to dig a far deeper hole with season 2… that is, unless the upcoming six episodes plan to bless it with some “glorious purpose” for a change.
We have all seen the many trailers, promos, and short clips from Loki season 2, and witnessed its variant of the God of Mischief, stuck outside time and space, impressively facing off against his enemies. He possesses green energy blasts that are capable of uprooting everyone in his path in one blow, he will be seen shadow-grabbing the TVA hunter posing as actor Brad Wolfe, and ooh, his eyes glow green, giving us a peek at the massive heights of his powers… all of which, strangely, were majorly MIA when it came to the original Loki.
Season 2 Loki is not the only surprisingly-powered version. The variant of the Asgardian prince accomplished many eyebrow-raising feats in season 1 as well, flaunting powers that the original Loki never exhibited in all the years we saw him alive in the Sacred Timeline.
All he did was rely on lying and trickery, barely showing that he had any powers to beat anyone single-handedly — a far cry from the Loki we have in the Disney Plus series. Was he someone who relied on his cleverness more than his powers? Maybe, but in the eight films that he appeared in, wasn’t there a single confrontation that deemed the usage of his full powers?
Loki blindly following Thanos has long been retconned as his having been controlled by the scepter, so that rules out the ability of the “puny god” to be aware enough to use his powers to whoop the Hulk’s ass, instead of being thrown around as a bag of potatoes. But what about the time when Loki, Thor, Valkyries, and Bruce were escaping Sakaar, or when they faced off against Hela in Asgard, oh, and when Thanos attacked their ship in Avengers: Infinity War? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these sure as hell passed the requirements.
And yet, the OG Loki never whisked out his super superpowers in any of these dire situations. But the variant Loki, whose story takes place somewhere around the events of The Avengers, flaunts exceptional powers with ease; he apparently had them along all the time. So what is the explanation? Does this Loki have mega abilities because he is a variant, or did being stuck in the TVA somehow affect his powers, miraculously bringing them into existence?
Variant Loki seeing a mini I am Groot version of OG Loki’s story and having a speedy change from grey-shaded antihero to the good guy could be chalked up to a refusal by Marvel to waste time repeating his whole redemption arc. But OG Loki barely possessing a watered-down version of the wonders the new Loki can pull off? Isn’t Secret Invasion cursing the MCU with a forever plothole already way more than the franchise can handle?
Loki episode one airs tonight on Disney Plus.